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1 

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32X 


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THE 


EVERLASTING  ARMS 


7 


FRANCIS  E.  CLARK,  D.D. 

President  of  the  United  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor 

AUTHOR  CP  "  WORLD  WIDE  HNDBAVOR," 
"  THE  GRBAT   SECRET,"    ETC.,   ETC. 


New  York  :  46  East  mtk  Street 

THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  &  COMPANY 

Boston;  100  Purchase  Street 


-^ 


I 


T 


The  Lii»k  ry 

OF   CONOKESS 


WASHINGTON 


12(404 

CopvRionT,  1898, 

By  TUOMAS   V.   ClIOWELL  &  COMPASV. 


h) 


TWO  COPIES  RECEIVED. 

C.  J.    PKTKRS  a    ?0N,   TTPOOBAPHEKg, 


•ak.'.taiiiMr'i^f-^^inn-'i'-  f-"---  -fJ^JifeKs-ifa-SiWefWi'-iSij^j, 


ttHH 


1 


3^ 


TO  ALL  THE  SAD  ANP  WEARY, 

TO  ALL   WHO  BEAR   HEAVY   BURDENS, 

TO  ALL  THE  GRIEF  STRICKEN, 

TO  ALL  WHO  HAVE  LOST   HEART  AND  HOPB, 

CJjia  HittU  Book, 

WHICH  ATTEMPTS  TO  TELL  Ot  THE  STRENGTH  AND 

COMFORT  OF 

THE  EVERLASTING  ARMS, 

ta  ©ebuateb. 


The  Eternal  God  In  thy  r^uge,  and  underneath 

are  the  everlnatimj  anna. 

Deut.  33:27. 


k-. 


1. 


Ih 


THE  EVERLASTING  ARMS. 


"  GrvE  me  a  great  thought,  that  I  may  live 
upon  it,"  said  a  poet  of  a  foreign  tongue. 
"Give  me  a  great  thought,  that  I  may  live 
upon  it." 

Here  is  such  a  thought :  »'  The  Eternal  God 
is  thy  refuge,  and  underneath  are  the  ever- 
lasting arms." 

God,  the  Christian's  refuge  and  abiding- 
place  !  Surely  no  greater  thought  can  be  ex- 
pressed in  language. 

Anything  is  really  valuable,  so  far,  and  only 
so  far,  as  it  satisfies  real  want. 

There  are  three  factors  that  enter  in,  to  en- 
hance values.  First,  the  urgency  of  the  need; 
second,  the  universality  of  the  need ;  and  third, 
the  completeness  of  the  satisfaction. 

Let  me  illustrate  this  in  a  very  simple  way. 
Air  and  water  and   light  are  of  the   utmost 

6  ....... 


6 


THE  EVERLASTINa  ARMB. 


value  because  they  satisfy  the  most  pressing, 
urgent  needs.  Neither  man  nor  beast  nor  fish 
can  exist  without  them ;  so,  for  this  reason, 
they  become,  though  neither  bought  nor  sold, 
the  most  valuable  of  material  objecte. 

Again,  the  universality  of  the  demand  largely 
determines  values.  This  is  shown  in  a  rough 
way  by  a  reference  to  the  market  quotations 
in  the  first  newspaper  w^e  take  up.  Those 
articles  are  called  staple  products  for  which 
the  demand  is  more  or  less  u.iiversal  and  con- 
stant. Com  and  wheat  and  rice  and  cotton 
are  numbered  among  the  staple  articles,  be- 
cause they  are  wanted  everywhere. 

To  be  sure,  man  can  exitt  without  any  one 
of  them,  and  so  they  are  not  so  important  as  air 
and  water ;  but  the  demand  for  them  is  so  con- 
stant and  so  nearly  universal  that  they  may  well 
be  called  "  staple,"  and  their  value  is  decided 
by  the  universality  of  the  demand  for  them. 

The  Kaffir,  in  the  South  African  bush,  does 
not  demand  a  genuine  work  of  the  old  masters, 
a  Van  Dyke  or  a  Murillo;  but  he  must  have 
his  bushel  of  rice  and  his  strip  of  cotton  cloth. 


^ 


/ 


fish 
son, 

lOld, 

?ely 
lugh 
.ions 
lioso 
hich 
con- 
tton 
be- 

one 
9  air 
con- 
well 
ided 

does 
ters, 
have 
loth. 


THE  EVERLA8TIN0   ARMS.  7 

The  red  Indian  manages  to  exist  without 
paying  a  thousand  dollars  a  night  for  a  pop- 
ular  lecture,  but  he  cannot  get  along  without 
his  maize.  The  hardy  dweller  in  barren  Ice- 
land can  dispense  with  an  illustrated  paper  and 
with  a  work  of  Grecian  art,  but  not  with  his 
flour-barrel  and  the  fruits  of  his  garden-patch. 

We  often  make  a  mistake  in  supposing  that 
a  thing  is  worth  what  it  will  bring,  that  value 
is  synonymous  with  price.  A  genuine  work  of 
Raphael,  perhaps,  cannot  be  bought  for  ten 
thousand  barrels  of  flour  in  some  parts  of 
Europe  and  America;  but  this  is  not  its  real 
value.  In  Labrador,  in  Zululaud,  in  Pata- 
gonia, the  Raphael  might  be  used  for  a  door- 
mat, while  the  flour-barrel  might  be  worshipped 
as  a  god. 

Or  suppose  a  time  of  famine.  Then  the 
real  value  of  each  I  "omes  apparent;  the  im- 
portance of  the  one  increasing  with  the  increas- 
ing need,  while  the  value  of  the  other  steadily 
decreases,  until  a  thousand  Raphaels  cannot 
buy  a  single  barrel  of  flour. 

The   other  factor  that  determines   the  J^al 


iifrs's^ 


*s» 


8 


THE  EVERLASTING   ARMS. 


value  of  un  object  is  the  completeness  of  the 
satisfaction  afforded.  The  best  flour,  the  best 
wheat,  the  best  cotton,  the  best  pictures,  sat- 
isfy the  need  better  than  an  inferior  quality ; 
and  hence  they  are  more  valuable. 

Nov,  I  tliink  it  can  be  shown  that  the  most 
necessary  thing  in  the  world,  the  want  of 
which  is  most  univeraally  felt,  is  a  sure  and 
safe  refuge ,  and  that  this  want  is  alone  com- 
pletely satisfied  by  the  Eternal  God. 

Even  the  birds  and  beast''  and  insects  share 
this  need  with  man.  The  young  sparrow 
perches  fluttering  on  the  edge  of  the  nest 
which  has  been  its  only  home.  It  fears  to 
trust  itself  to  itp.  untried  wings,  and  soon  falls 
trembling  back  into  its  moss-lined  nest. 

The  timid  hare,  wary  and  alert,  is  always 
careful  not  to  place  too  great  a  distance  be- 
tween itself  and  its  burrow. 

The  herd  of  deer  always  keeps  an  outpost 
on  the  watch,  with  head  erect,  scanning  the 
horizon  and  snuffing  the  breeze,  lest  a  hunter 
creep  between  it  and  its  safe  refuge  in  the 
impenetrable  woods. 


r'mit  •  [  rw 


THE  EVERLASTING   ARMS. 


9 


the 
best 

sat- 
ity ; 

nost 
t  of 
and 
3om- 

hare 
[•row 
nest 
8  to 
falls 

vays 
be- 
post 
the 
nter 
the 


Even  the  minutest  insect,  which  we  brush 
from  our  coat  without  a  thought,  has  its  refuge 
and  means  of  defence  from  its  enemies.  In 
some  varieties  the  defence  consists  in  so  iden- 
tifying itself  with  the  leaf  or  twig  upon  which 
it  feeds  that  it  cannot  be  distinguished  by  its 
enemy.  Another  has  the  power,  though  en- 
tirely inocuous  iuelf,  of  so  resembling,  when 
it  wishes,  a  poisonous  insect  that  no  bird  or 
other  foe  will  dare  approach  it.  Still  others 
carry  with  them  a  casemate,  into  which  they 
may  withdraw  whenever  danger  threatens. 

The  child  feels  the  need  of  a  refuge  as  soon 
as  the  need  for  food.  Why  does  the  little 
tired  romp  nestle  so  confidingly  in  the  mother's 
arms,  when  the  active  day  has  come  to  a  close 
and  black  night  closes  in,  or  when  the  slight- 
est fear  disturbs  it,  unless  within  its  little  heart 
is  implanted  the  ineradicable  need  and  desire 
for  a  safe  refuge? 

Take  up  again  your  morning  paper  and  look 
in  the  column  of  "  Wants,"  and  you  will  find 
an  illustration  of  our  theme.  Almost  any  one 
of  these  innumerable  advertisements  might  be 


«]i 


■tTT rrm  ilimikl"'"^ 


10 


T^Bt  EVERLASTING  ARMS. 


headed:  "Wanted  —  a  refuge."  Many  of 
them  are  houses  to  let  or  to  sell,  but  they 
imply  that  there  are  families  here  and  there 
who  are  looking  for  a  home  refuge  to  which 
they  may  retreat. 

Some  of  them  are  calls  for  a  business  or  a 
business  partner,  or  for  capital ;  but  the  ulti- 
mate aim  of  the  advertiser  in  all  this  is,  that 
he  may  secure  a  comfortable  and  happ}'  refuge 
for  himself  and  family  in  old  age. 

The  young  man  plans  and  dreams  and  as- 
pires to  this ;  the  man  in  middle  life  labors  and 
toils  for  this;  and  we  may  well  say  that  all  the 
world,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  is  seeking 
an  asylum  for  future  years. 

Modern  philanthropy  and  humanitarianism 
busies  itself  with  little  else  than  providing 
refuges  for  those  who  cannot  provide  them  for 
themselves,  —  refuges  for  the  insane  ;  hospi- 
tals for  the  sick ;  asylums  for  the  blind,  for  the 
deaf  aiid  dumb,  and  for  the  cripple ;  homes  for 
the  tempted  and  fallen,  retreats  for  released  pris- 
oners, —  all  an  outgrowth  of  man's  inextinguish- 
able desire  for  a  safe  home,  for  a  secure  refuge. 


^IMI 


■  Li.iiHifcaaigi.- 


2. 


THE  EVERLASTING   AHMS. 


11 


L 


But  the  defences  which  we  raise  and  the 
refuges  to  which  we  retire  are  not  all  of  such 
a  material  character.  We  perhaps  more  often 
find  a  refuge  within  ourselves  than  elsewhere. 
Some  one  insults  us  or  wounds  our  pride,  and 
we  immediately  incase  ourselves  in  "  fortress 
of  repelling  dignity  and  cold  reserve  toward 
that  person.  We  are  pitied  for  some  misfor- 
tune about  which  we  are  sensitive,  or  offered  a 
charity  which  we  are  too  proud  to  accept,  and 
forthwith  we  bristle  all  over  with  stateliness 
and  disdain.  We  find  a  refuge  within  our- 
selves from  these  attacks,  and  often  a  most 
unsatisfactoiy  one,  it  must  be  confessed. 

The  prime  importance  of  a  safe  refuge,  then, 
is  manifest.  It  has  the  marks  of  true  value; 
it  is  universally  demanded;  the  urgency  of 
the  demand  is  extreme.  The  beggar  in  his 
rags,  no  less  than  the  king  in  his  royal  pur- 
ple, desires  a  hiding-place. 

The  Jews  of  old,  you  remember,  had  their 
cities  of  refuge,  to  which  those  guilty  of  inad- 
vertent manslaughter  might  flee.  It  was  the 
duty  of  the  Saohedrim  to  keep  the  roads  lead- 


iHi 


mtmmmamtim 


ia#rtrwrtifin  r^..^^^ 


la 


THE  EVERLASTING   ARMS. 


ing  to  these  citit?  in  good  repair.  Forty-eight 
feet  wide  they  must  always  be,  and  straight  as 
the  surveyor's  line  could  make  them,  without  a 
hillock  or  an  unbridged  river  to  impede  the 
traveller  in  his  race  for  life.  Wherever  there 
was  a  divergence  in  the  way,  a  guideboard 
pointed  out  the  right  direction;  and  two  law 
students  were  appointed  to  run  with  the  un- 
fortunate man,  and  lead  him  to  the  city  of 
Safety. 

But  the  Christian's  refuge  is  even  more  ac- 
cessible yet.  There  are  no  obstructing  hillocks 
or  impassable  rivers  in  the  way.  A  Imost  every 
chapter  in  God's  Word  is  a  guidebou^J  to  the 
city  of  refuge.  You  have  but  to  resolve  aright, 
and  you  are  in  this  refuge.  You  have  but 
truly,  obediently  to  desire  to  be  there,  and  you 
are  there,  so  accessible  is  God's  heart  of  love. 

I  have  read  of  a  child  stolen  away  from  its 
father's  home  in  very  early  life,  and  brought 
back  at  last,  after  very  many  years  of  gypsy 
wandering,  to  the  parental  roof.  The  little 
boy  was  not  told  who  he  was,  but  was  left 
to  wander  at  will  about  the  house.    Everything 


BCi 


^^ 


HMUMMMIttSE-.^ 


^■-^v. 


TUE  EVERLASTING   ARMS. 


18 


seemed  strange  to  him  at  first,  as  he  wandered 
through  the  rooms,  looking  with  curious  boy- 
ish eyes  at  pictures  and  ornaments  and  furni- 
ture with  which  he  had  once  been  familiar. 
His  glad  father  followed  close  behind,  to  see 
if  any  object  would  bring  back  the  lost  mem- 
ories. At  length  he  stopped  before  a  picture 
of  his  own  dead  mother;  something  in  the 
face  arrested  his  attention ;  he  gazed  at  it  long 
and  earnestly;  a  flood  of  recollections,  well- 
nigh  lost,  poured  into  his  soul;  the  other  ob- 
jects began  to  look  familiar,  and  he  threw 
himself  sobbing  into  the  waiting  arms  of  his 
father,  overpowered  by  the  newborn  hope  and 
joy  which  the  picture  had  awakened  within 
him. 

You  are  all  in  your  Father's  house,  though 
you  do  not  know  it.  Look  around  you !  Do 
you  not  see  a  face  on  a  cross,  a  face  full  of 
anguish,  but  more  full  of  love  ?  He  is  looking 
at  you  as  the  pictured  mother's  face  looked 
from  the  wall  at  her  lost  boy.  Does  not  this 
face  bring  back  intimatioriS  of  forgotten  love, 
yet  of  love  that  is  still  yours ;  of  a  wandering 


'1 


-  -.1 


IHHI 


14 


THE  EVERLASTING  ARMS. 


from  home,  yet  of  a  home  with  wide-open 
doors,  a  home  in  which  you  are  to-day  did  you 
but  know  it? 

How  exceeding  sweet  is  this  verse  that  tells 
of  this  refuge !  —  "  The  Eternal  God  is  thy  ref- 
uge, and  underneath  are  the  everlasting  arms." 
Did  you  ever  read  verse  of  laureate  more  sim- 
ply beautiful?  It  combines  strength,  tender- 
ness, and  poetic  purity  in  such  a  way  that  it 
seens  as  if  the  writer  must  be  a  sturdy  war- 
rior, and  a  prince  among  poets  both  in  one. 
And  well  may  these  beauties  be  found  in  this 
verse,  for  he  who  wrote  them  — 

.  .  .  "was  the  bravest  warrior 

That  ever  buckled  sword; 

This  the  most  gifted  poet 

That  ever  breathed  a  word; 

And  never  earth's  philosopher 

Traced  with  his  golden  pen, 

On  the  deathless  page,  truths  half  so  sage, 

As  he  wrote  dow'  for  men." 

"The  Eternal  God  is  thy  refuge" — the  very 
repetition  of  these  words  seems  to  raise  a  bar- 
rier between  ourselves  and  evil.    How  impos- 


A 


THE  EVERLASTING   AEM8. 


16 


>pen 
you 

tells 
ref- 
as." 
sim- 
der- 
,t  it 
«rar- 
ane. 
this 


rery 
bar- 

DOS- 


sible  loss  and  failure  seem  when  we  are  in 
such  a  refuge. 

"  Conceive  a  range  of  mountains,"  says  a 
well-known  writer;  "conceive  a  range  of 
mountains  extending  the  whole  length  of  a 
continent,  piled  up  in  one  unbroken  wall  of 
rock  above  the  region  of  the  clouds,  resting 
upon  a  base  broad  enough  to  cover  a  kingdom. 
Conceive  the  power  sufficient  to  uproot  that  ad- 
amantine barrier  from  its  deep  foundation,  and 
hurl  it  into  the  midst  of  the  ocean.  Such  an 
act  of  power  would  be  easier  to  perform  than 
to  defeat  or  change  that  word  of  promise  by 
which  God  engages  to  fulfil  the  desire  of  them 
that  fear  him  in  all  generations. 

"Go  climb  with  toilsome  end«ia\or  to  the 
thunderous  heights  of  the  great  mountains. 
Look  fonch  from  these  rooky  battlements  which 
the  fighting  winds  have  stormed  against  for 
centuries,  yet  never  shaken.  Can  you  beat 
them  down  to  the  small  dust  of  the  plain  truth 
by  the  stamping  of  your  foot  ?  Can  you  blow 
them  away  with  your  breath  as  the  winds  blow 
the  leaves  of  autumn?     You  could  a  thousand 


L 


16 


TUE  EVERLASTING   ARMS. 


times  easier  do  that  than  could  one  poor  suf- 
fering child  of  faith  be  snatched  from  the  pro- 
tecting hand  of  the  Almighty.  You  could 
more  easily  blow  the  Andes  into  the  ocean 
with  a  breath,  than  fail  of  eternal  life  when 
trusting  in  him  who  alone  has  the  infinite 
blessing  to  give."  Such  is  the  strength  of  the 
Christian's  refuge. 

How  tender,  too,  is  the  expression!  "under- 
neath are  the  everlasting  arms." 

As  the  baby  in  its  first  joume;  across  the 
floor  is  followed  by  the  anxious  mother,  with 
her  soft  arms  stretched  out  just  behind  to 
catch  him  if  he  stumbles,  so  we  go  through 
life  with  our  heavenly  Father's  arms  stretched 
out  ready  to  catch  us.  The  baby  does  not 
know  that  the  mother's  arms  are  there;  and 
we  do  not  realize  that  our  Father's  arm  is  so 
near,  but  on  that  account  shall  we  say,  in  our 
infantile  wisdom,  that  ho  is  not  near  us.  The 
baby  only  knows  that  when  he  stumbles  and 
is  about  to  fall  he  is  always  caught,  and  that 
is  enough  for  him  to  know.  The  Christian 
only  knows   that  when    he    stumbles  and   is 


/ 


BMa. 

one  poor  suf- 
from  the  pro- 
.  You  could 
ato  the  ocean 
'nal  life  when 
8  the  infinite 
trength  of  the 

sioni  "under- 
let across  the 
mother,  with 
ist  behind  to 
e  go  through 
irms  stretched 
laby  does  not 
e  there;  and 
er's  arm  is  so 
i^e  say,  in  our 
lear  us.  The 
stumbles  and 
ght,  and  that 
"Hie  Christian 
nbles   and   is 


TUE  EVERLASTING   ARMS. 


17 


about  to  fall  he,  too,  is  always  upheld;  for 
underneath  are  the  Everlasting  Arms,  and  thu^ 
is  enough  for  him  to  know. 

The  Christian's  rsfuge  has  every  attribute 
of  superlative  value.  It  meets  the  most  urgent, 
imperative  need,  a  need,  too,  that  every  son 
of  man  must  feel.  It  meets  it  in  the  only 
way  in  which  it  can  be  met,  by  affording  the 
abundant,  absolute,  eternal  refuge  of  Omnip- 
otence. 

It  is  most  interesting  to  note  that  in  these 
days  there  seems  to  be  a  return  to  the  great 
truth  of  the  abiding  presence  of  God.  It  is 
a  truth,  not  only  of  the  theologian,  but  of  the 
common  people.  It  is  a  doctrine  that  is  find- 
ing its  way  into  the  lowly  cottage,  perhaps 
even  sooner  than  into  the  classic  halls  of  learn- 
ing. It  is  a  truth  that  is  transforming  lives, 
that  is  renewing  outworn  faiths,  and  lifting 
up  drooping  heads.  It  is  at  the  basis  of  what- 
ever is  true  in  so-called  Christian  science.  It 
has  started  the  "Don't  worry"  clubs  in  all 
parts  of  the  land.  It  is  as  new  as  the  latest 
fad  of  the  passing  day ;  it  is  as  old  as  the  law- 


18 


THE  EVEHLASTINO   ARMS. 


giver  of  Israel;  as  old  as  Enoch,  who  walked 
with  God;  as  old  as  Job,  who,  at  the  dawn 
of  authentic  history,  was  able  to  cry  out  con- 
cerning this  same  indwelling  God  whose  pres- 
ence he  felt:  "I  have  heard  of  thee  with  the 
hearing  of  the  ear,  but  now  mine  eye  seeth 
thee." 

Our  presses  are  teeming  just  now  with  books 
that  seek  to  exalt  the  mental  above  the  physi- 
cal, the  spiritual  above  the  material.  They  try 
to  tell  us  how  to  banish  fear  and  anxiety. 
They  tell  us  that  to  live  free,  wholesome, 
happy  lives,  we  must,  by  a  strong  act  of  the 
will,  abolish  the  thought  of  ill  from  our  minds 
forever,  deny  the  existence  of  evil  and  trouble 
and  sin  as  unreal  things,  and  admit  that  only 
good  really  exists. 

What  is  this  but  an  attempt,  often  a  very 
crude  a*/terapt,  to  be  sure,  but  nevertheless  a 
real  effort,  to  state  the  all-absorbing  truth  that 
God  is  our  refuge  and  oi^r  strength,  that  God 
is  all  and  in  all. 

But  we  do  not  have  to  look  to  the  last 
book  that  dropped  from  the  press  for  the  fullest 


wnt" 


aM'.!!,.'l>-»»'j!,tl-i!ia.t.,li— 41 


/ 


c 


ST 


TUE  EVERLASTING   ARMS. 


19 


and  laigest  expressions  cf  this  truth.  There 
is  an  old,  old  book  called  the  Bible,  which 
seems  to  exhaust  all  language  to  show  that 
God  is  the  refuge  of  his  people,  and  that  those 
that  tnist  in  him  need  fear  no  evil.  He  is 
our  Fortress,  our  High  Tower,  our  Rock,  our 
Shield,  our  Abiding-place.  He  is  our  Habita- 
tion, our  Shepherd,  and  our  Fold. 

I  have  often  wished  that  all  the  verses  in  the 
Bible  that  tell  of  the  immediate,  personal  pres- 
sence  of  God,  as  the  strength  and  refuge  of 
his  people,  were  'wrought  together  in  one  vol- 
ume, that  we  might  realize  the  exceeding  ful- 
ness of  God's  Word  upon  this  subject. 

Let  us  take  a  brief  excursion  into  a  few  of 
the  Psalms,  that  we  may  see  how  largely  the 
authors  were  absorbed  by  this  thought  of  the 
immediate  presence  and  personal  protection  of 
the  Most  High. 

I  will  choose  only  the  most  obvious  and  un- 
mistakable references  to  this  subject,  for  the 
remoter  meaning  of  almost  every  versi^  g;ives 
countenance  to  this  idea. 

"Thou,  Lord,  art  a  shield  about  me,"  says 


m 


if 


^: 


; 


._^, 


■?/-«» 


20 


TUB  EVERLASTIlfG   ARMS. 


David,  in  the  third  Psalm ;  "  my  glory,  and  the 
lifter  up  of  my  head." 

Notica  tlie  slight  change  whicb  the  revisers 
give  us  in  this  verse,  not  a  shield /or  me,  but, 
a  (ihield  about  me,  as  if  the  shield  compassed 
him  before  and  behind,  and  on  every  side,  and 
was  not  simply  a  guard  for  the  face  or  the 
heart. 

*'  I  laid  me  down  and  slept,"  he  continued ; 
"I  awaked;  for  the  Lord  sustaineth  me." 

It  is  thought  that  at  this  time  he  was 
fleeing  from  Absalom,  his  son.  Enemies  en- 
compassed him  about  on  every  side.  His  own 
son  had  rebelled,  and  set  up  a  new  empire. 
Wherever  he  went,  danger  lurked  in  ambush 
for  him,  and  the  bloody  sword  of  an  unnat- 
ural child  was  lifted  up  against  him. 

But  even  in  these  circumstances  God  was 
his  Refuge,  and  his  ever  present  Deliverer, 
and  he  lay  down  and  rose  up,  he  slept  and 
awoke,  because  God  was  with  him. 

Again,  under  very  similar  circumstances,  he 
encourages  his  own  soul,  and  cheers  all  those 
who  come  after  him  with  a  like  phrase,  the 


-  S-^iaEiiefwstteJ^H-.' 


1 


i 


THE  EVERLASTING  ALMS. 


21 


very  repetition  of  which  comforts  and  soothes 
the  weary  soul  with  its  own  gentle  halm.  ♦»  I 
will  both  lay  me  down  in  peace,  and  sleep ; 
for  thou.  Lord,  alone,  makest  me  to  dwell  in 
safety." 

Again,  in  view  of  the  gladness,  the  almost 
hilarious  joy,  which  should  come  to  those  who 
know  that  God  is  their  present  and  everlasting 
defence,  he  cries  out,  "  Let  all  those  that  put 
their  trust  in  thee  rejoice :  let  them  ever  shout 
for  joy,  because  thou  defendest  them :  let 
them  also  that  love  thy  name  be  joyful  in 
thee. 

'  In  the  sixteenth  Psalm,  David  expresses 
once  more,  in  new  and  striking  figures,  his 
blessedness  in  the  immediate  presence  of  God. 
"I  have  set  the  Lord  always  before  me,"  he 
cries  out ;  ♦'  because  he  is  at  my  right  hand,  I 
shall  not  be  moved.  Therefore  my  heart  is 
glad,  my  flesh  also  shall  dwell  in  safety.  Thou 
wilt  show  me  the  path  of  life :  in  thy  presence 
is  fulness  of  joy ;  in  thy  right  hand  there  are 
pleasures  for  evermore." 

The  eighteenth  Psalm  is  perhaps  the  no- 


.? 


;..%i,uej«,T"£=-S"- 


■•5f*1BP?*'''''W'ff!W?PT*??f 


22 


THE  EVERLASTING  ARMS. 


blest  paean  of  praise  that  was  ever  written,  and 
its  whole  tlieme,  in  all  its  fifty  verses,  is  the 
immediate,  outstretched  arm  of  God  in  rescu- 
ing and  delivering  his  people.  "I  love  thee, 
O  Lord,  my  strength,"  begins  the  exultant 
Psalmist,  as  he  realizes  the  mighty  power  of 
his  mighty  Deliverer.  "  The  Lord  is  my  Rock 
and  my  Fortress  and  my  Deliverer,  my  God, 
my  Strong  Rock,  in  him  will  I  trust ;  my 
Shield  and  the  Horn  of  my  Salvation,  my  High 
Tower."  Then  he  goes  on  to  say  how  God 
hath  delivered  him  from  the  sorrows  of  death, 
how  he  has  drawn  him  out  of  many  waters, 
how  he  delivered  him  from  a  strong  enemy, 
and  brought  him  forth  "  into  a  large  place." 

"Thou  wilt  light  my  lamp,"  he  continues; 
"the  Lord  my  God  will  lighten  my  darkness." 

It  is  as  if  nothing  were  too  small  for  God 
to  do  for  his  beloved  one.  The  service  which 
the  servant  usually  performs  God  will  under- 
take. To  give  his  chosen  one  light,  with  his 
own  hand  he  will  light  the  lamp. 

Then  into  a  more  heroic  and  martial  vein 
his  thoughts  run,  as  he  cries  out,  "  By  thee  I 


.-:«i'>ii;a<Biaa.'rfii;--s»,aii.ta'itt»i)tfi- . 


THE  EVERLASTING   ARMS. 


23 


have  run  upon  a  troop;  and  by  my  God  do  I 
leap  over  a  wall.  For  who  is  a  god  save  the 
Lord,  and  who  ib  a  rock  beside  our  God  ?  It 
is  God  who  girdeth  me  with  strength.  The 
Lord  liveth,  and  blessed  be  my  rock;  exalted 
be  the  God  of  my  salvation." 

To  be  sure,  the  Psalmist  had  his  days  of 
depression  like  the  rest  of  us.  He  was  dis- 
couraged and  cast  down,  and  cried  out  in  his 
anguish,  "My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou 
forsaken  me?  why  art  thou  so  far  from  helping 
me?  I  cry  in  the  day-time,  but  thou  hearest 
not,  and  in  the  night  sea.son,  and  am  not  si- 
lent." Yet  in  the  very  next  Psalm  after  this 
dismal  wail  we  read  the  words  that  have  com- 
forted a  hundred  generations  of  men;  words 
that  will  comfort  a  hundred  generations  more, 
and  which  are  universally  regarded  as  the 
sweetest  words  of  the  most  gifted  singer  of 
all  the  ages:  "The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd,  I 
shall  not  want.  ...  I  will  fear  no  evil :  for 
thou  art  with  me ;  thy  rod  and  thy  staff  they 
comfort  me." 

Why  is  this  Psalm  the  best-loved  poem  ever 


24 


THE  EVERLASTING   ARMS. 


penned  ?  Because  there  is  no  other  theme  like 
this  to  appeal  to  the  universal  wants  of  man- 
kind. There  is  no  other  thought  that  can  dry 
the  tear  of  every  mourner,  and  comfort  every 
sorrow-stricken  soul,  except  the  abiding  pres- 
ence of  the  ever-living  God. 

Antidotes  of  fear  are  sought  in  every  direc- 
tion. Looked  at  from  one  standpoint,  all  man- 
kind seems  to  be  fleeing  from  the  gaunt 
spectre  of  fear.  The  miser  fears  poverty,  and 
fills  his  coffers  with  shining  gold,  as  though  in 
this  way  he  could  escape  the  spectre. 

The  business  man,  wholly  immersed  in 
money-making,  scarcely  more  wise  than  the 
miser,  gives  all  his  anxious  days  and  nights  to 
the  accumulation  of  a  fortune,  hoping  in  this 
way  to  escape  the  fear  of  coming  misfortune, 
as  if  stocks  and  bonds  were  a  sure  barrier 
against  all  ill.  * 

The  baser  passions,  envy,  jealousy,  and 
malice,  all  seem  to  be  set  on  fire  by  fear. 
Envy  is  the  fear  that  some  one  will  surpass  us 
in  the  race  of  life ;  that  some  one  else  will 
become  more  honored,  more  wealthy,  more  pros- 


■■■i 


THE  EVERLASTING  ARMS. 


25 


ike 
an- 
dry 
ery 
res- 

•ec- 
an- 
unt 
iiid 
L  in 

in 

the 
i  to 
bhis 
Lne, 
rier 

ud 
Jar. 
I  us 
!vdll 
ros. 


\ 


perous  than  we.  Jealousy  is  the  fear  that  we 
shall  be  supplanted  in  the  affections  of  our 
friends  by  some  one  else;  and  the  rapier  of 
malice  is  raised  to  strike  the  deadly  blow, 
urged  on  by  the  envy  or  jealousy  that  is  bom 
of  fear. 

And  what  is  the  dissipation  to  which  many 
a  man  flees,  except  a  refuge  from  his  fears? 
The  drunkard  drinks  the  infuriating  cup,  not 
because  of  any  especial  pleasure  it  gives  him, 
but  because,  for  the  time  being,  it  affords  a 
refuge  from  his  fears.  He  is  trying  to  get 
away  from  himself,  from  his  past  record,  from 
his  present  misery,  from  his  hopeless  future, 
from  the  dismal  memories  that  dog  his  steps. 
He  drinks,  and  for  the  time  being  forgets  him- 
self and  all  liis  fears.  He  asks  no  favors  now 
of  any  king.  For  a  brief  hour  he  has  found  a 
refuge  in  oblivion  of  the  past  and  of  the 
present. 

The  confessions  of  every  opium-eater  would 
tell  us  the  same  story.  He  wishes  to  benumb 
his  faculties,  that  he  may  deaden  his  fears.  In 
the  fool's  paradise  of  hasheesh  he  tries  to  es- 


mmam 


26 


THE  EVERLASTING   ARMS. 


cape  the  swift,  racing  tormente  that  are  always 

at  his  heels. 

All  kinds  of  dissipation  that  degrade  man, 
and  at  last  seem  to  extinguish  the  last  spark 
of  divinity  within  him,  are  sought  with  the 
same  purpose.  Their  object  is,  for  a  little  time 
to  escape  from  fear,  to  run  away  from  self, 
to  abolish  the  past,  to  draw  a  veil  before  the 
threatening  future. 

The  giddy  whirl  of  thoughtless  society,  that 
takes  no  time  to  think  of  serious  things ;  the 
absorption  of  the  business  man,  that  never  al- 
lows him  a  quiet  hour  for  greater  concerns ; 
the  dissipation  at  the  gambling-table  and  the 
saloon,  — all  teach  the  same  lesson,  the  univer- 
sal demand  of  man  for  a  refuge,  the  hungry 
craving  of  the  human  soul  for  a  sure  defence, 
.  the  unsatisfied  longing  of  every  life  to  feel  be- 
neath  it  and  around   it  the   loving  pressure 
of  the  Everlasting  Arms. 

We  have  already  noticed  how  the  Psalmist, 
feeling  the  terrible  urgency  of  his  need,  found 
it  met  and  satisfied.  His  experience  is  worth 
dwelling  upon  a  moment  longer. 


ig'j,P5>'.flS>' 


THE  EVERLASTING  ARMS. 


27 


When  he  felt  that  God  was  afar  from  him 
he  was  full  of  fears ;  and  in  bitter  anguish  of 
soul  he  cried  out,  in  the  very  words  that  our 
Lord  himself  used  on  Calvary,  "  My  God,  my 
God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?  " 

But  soon  he  comes  to  himself  again.  He 
learns  the  secret  of  his  strength  and  power, 
that  great  is  his  abiding  refuge.  He  rejoices 
in  the  green  pastures  and  the  still  waters ;  his 
soul'  is  restored;  he  is  led  in  the  paths  of 
righteousness;  he  fears  no  evil.  Why?  Not 
because  stocks  and  bonds  and  houses  and  lands 
had  increased,  not  because  dissipation  had 
brought  momentary  forgetfulness  and  a  ficti- 
tious courage,  not  because  power  and  fame 
had  built  up  a  rampart  between  himself  and 
future  evil.  Ah,  no,  there  is  only  one  ref- 
uge, only  one  source  of  strength,  only  one  pair 
of  everlasting  arms,  "  I  will  fear  no  evil,  for 
thou  art  with  me."  The  abiding  presence  of 
God  has  driven  away  his  fears,  and  now  he 
can  be  confident  that  goodness  and  mercy  shall 
follow  him  all  the  days  of  his  life. 

We  have  riot  time  to  trace  through  other 


i.;iiI>lII1.?II>Ii|Tiip 


28 


THE  EVEBLASTINO  ABM8, 


Psalms  this  vein  of  golden  ore,  but  it  runs 
through  all  of  them.  Eveiy  miner  into  the 
hidden  things  of  God  will  do  well  to  study 
them  with  close  and  reverent  attention,  an 
attention  that  will  soon  be  turned  into  glad 
adoration  when  the  secret  of  God's  abiding 
presence  as  the  refuge  of  his  saints  takes  pos- 
session of  his  soul. 

In  the  New  Testament  the  expressions  ap- 
plied to  our  Saviour  that  reveal  this  sacred 
truth  are  quite  as  wonderful  and  varied.  He 
is  the  one  in  whom  we  dwell,  as  a  man  dwells 
witliin  his  own  home.  The  most  wonderful 
chapter  of  all  the  Bible,  perhaps,  is  devoted 
to  thi«  thought  of  the  indwelling  of  the  be- 
liever in  his  Lord. 

The  thought  becomes  even  more  intimate  and 
intense  in  the  New  Testament  than  in  the  Old. 
The  disciple  abides  in  his  Lord,  not  as  the 
beleaguered  soldier  abides  in  the  fortress,  but 
as  the  branch  abides  in  the  vine.  The  abid- 
ing is  not  simply  for  refuge  and  defence,  but 
for  the  purpose  of  drawing  life  and  nourish- 
ment from  the   one  in  whom  we  abide.     In 


T 


i 


THE  EVERLASTING   ARMS. 


29 


the  New  Testament  the  abiding  becomes  the 
immediate,  intimate  union  of  different  parts 
of  the  same  plant,  of  different  members  of 
the  same  body;  of  different  organs,  through 
which  courses  the  same  life-blood.  This  is 
the  thought,  in  its  highest  and  fullest  and 
most  glorious  expression.  Our  Lord  does  not 
hesitate  to  go  to  any  length  to  express  the 
glory  and  the  power  that  come  from  this 
abiding  presence  of  God. 

He  causes  our  weak  faith  to  stumble,  and 
to  ask  if  he  indeed  means  what  he  says,  when 
he  declares  that,  "If  ye  abide  in  me,  and  my 
words  abide  in  you,  ye  shall  ask  what  ye  will, 
and  it  shall  be  done  unto  you." 

Over  and  over  again  he  reiterates  this 
thought,  lest  we  should  be  afraid  to  appro- 
priate it  to  ourselves;  until  at  last,  at  the 
very  end  of  his  prayer,  with  Calvary  full  in 
view,  he  prays  that  all  of  us  may  be  one,  "as 
thou.  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee,  that  they 
also  may  be  one  in  us." 

This  is  but  the  consummation,  the  full  and 
final  development,  of  the  Old  Testament  idea 


80 


THE  EVERLASTING  ARMS. 


of  God  as  the  refuge  of  his  saints  from  all  fears 
and  from  all  ills.  This  is  the  glorious  summit 
to  which  the  thought  of  tlie  actual,  abiding 
presence  of  an  infinite  God  at  last  raises  us. 

But  it  is  all  ours.  We  need  not  refuse  to 
believe  it.  The  Bible  declares  it  from  Gene- 
sis to  Revelation.  The  Scriptures  would  be 
indeed  meagre  and  meaningless,  if  this  great 
idea,  of  the  actual  presence,  the  suriounding, 
all-compassing,  indwelling,  life-giving  presence, 
of  Jehovali,  were  left  out. 

As  the  needs  of  mankind  are  universal,  as 
feare  chase  him  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave, 
as  trouble  stalks  after  him  in  every  age,  so, 
thank  God!  the  City  of  Refuge  is  never  far 
away.  In  the  Almighty  is  the  universal  need 
of  man  satisfied.  In  him  alone  is  the  urgent 
craving  of  the  heart  altogether  met. 

We  could  lose  out  of  our  literature  whole 
libraries  of  the  choicest  books  better  than  we 
could  lose  such  simple  sentences  as  these: 
"The  eternal  God  is  thy  refuge;  "  "I  am  the 
vine,  ye  are  the  branches." 

Upon  these  promises,  in  all  the  ages,  men 


, 


THE  EVERLASTING  AKMB. 


31 


, 


have  leaned,  and  they  have  never  proved  broken 
reeds.  On  these  words  of  cheer  the  sorrow- 
stricken  have  rested,  in  them  the  dying  have 
put  their  hope.  They  have  brought  strength 
to  the  weak  and  new  courage  to  the  strong. 
They  have  sustained  and  supported,  as  well  as 
soothed  and  comforted.  They  have  met  and 
forever  satisfied  the  world-weary  craving  of  all 
who  received  them  into  their  hearts. 

Every  faltering  child  of  God  can  take  them 
to  himself.  They  are  as  intimate  and  per- 
sonal and  individual  as  they  are  beautiful  and 
true ;  for  each  one  of  us  who  reads  these  words, 
if  we  are  the  humble  children  of  God,  can  use 
the  personal  pronouns,  and  say  without  pre- 
sumption, ''Christ  is  the  branch  and  I  am  the 
vine.  He  abides  in  me,  and  I  in  him.  The 
Eternal  God  is  my  refuge,  and  underneath  me 
are  the  Everlasting  Arms." 


I 


ft; 
I 


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